Is iOS 11 draining your iPhone 7 Plus battery life too? You’re not alone. Everything was working normally until you decided to get the latest iOS update. Instead of better performance, what you get is the opposite. Many users of iPhone 7 Plus have noticed a sudden unusual drop on their phone’s battery life as it now drains so fast. How did this problem occur on your device and how to fix it? This is what we are going to address in this post. Feel free to refer to this content should you wish to troubleshoot the same problem on the same iPhone.

But before anything else, if you have other concerns with your iPhone 7 Plus, make sure you drop by our troubleshooting page for we have already addressed some of the most commonly reported issues with this new iPhone. If you need further assistance or if you can’t find what you’re looking for in that page, fill up our iPhone issues questionnaire and hit submit. Don’t worry, it’s a free consultation service so you don’t have to worry about anything. Just give us more information about the problem and we’ll do our best to help you fix it.

What causes your iPhone battery to drain so fast after the update?

Other battery life issues were tied to a bad battery on the device. Cases like that are tagged among other hardware-related issues. But that should not be the case with your iPhone 7 Plus especially if there were no previous instances of liquid exposure or dropping incident that might have damaged the battery in any ways. Given that the problem started right after implementing the new update to iOS, most likely the update was at fault. But there are also other cases where a certain app is to blame. It is possible that an app can become rogue after installing the new iOS 11 update especially if that app doesn’t meet the minimum system requirements to function normally with the latest iOS platform. It is also possible that the new update has automatically reset your iPhone settings or enable some settings or apps that can contribute to a faster power consumption on the device. Or it could be just a software bug, something in the update is forcing your iPhone to become always busy and quickly run out of power.

As much as possible try narrow down the cause as it will help you in getting the best possible resolution to the problem.

Potential solutions and workarounds to deal with battery life problems on iPhone 7 Plus

Outlined below are generic solutions that are used to resolve problems associated with the battery on your iPhone. All these can help you in determining the underlying cause and likewise in obtaining solution. You can try these things first before you go for a tech service, get a replacement, or upgrade to the new iPhone 8.

First Method: Check and manage battery usage on your iPhone.

You can start by making some assessments on the current status of your iPhone’s battery. To get started, check the current status of your battery and see which apps are using the most of your iPhone’s power. This information can be obtained by going to the battery usage menu on your device. Here’s how to get there:

Tap Settings from the Home screen.

Tap General.

Tap Battery.

Scroll down to the section that shows battery usage details.

On this section you will find and get to know which of your apps are using much of your battery and how much power they consumed. Also try to check your usage time and compare it with your standby time. If you see the usage time is the same as the standby time, you can tell that there is a problem. Something must have triggered your iPhone to run continuously and going into standby mode. One of your app is probably malfunctioning and that your iPhone is running that app continuously.

To isolate which of your apps is behind all these power troubles, you can try to disable or uninstall and reinstall the suspected apps individually. Try to see which app is using much of your iPhone battery, do something with that app and see if there are any improvements on your iPhone’s battery performance afterwards.

Second Method: Manage your iPhone settings.

Some settings, particularly on your iPhone display are also tagged among the factors that can contribute to quick battery draining among smartphones. Even those that are packed with high-powered batteries can succumb into battery draining issues when some settings are enabled on the device. To rule this out from the possible causes, try to make necessary adjustments. Here are your options:

Disable Auto-Brightness. You can save a good amount of battery on your iPhone 7 Plus by disabling Auto-Brightness. This option can be found under Display & Brightness from the Settings menu.

To access and configure this option, go to Settings-> Display & Brightness-> then toggle the switch to turn off Auto-Brightness.

Adjust Screen Brightness. The brighter the display, the more power it takes and the faster your iPhone battery to drain. Try to adjust your iPhone screen brightness and set it to a lower level.

To do so, swipe up from the Home screen or Lock screen to open the Control Center. Then, tap drag the Brightness slider to the left to reduce screen brightness.

Adjust frequency of Background App Refresh. Limiting the number of apps that can refresh in the background and limiting the number of apps that can access your location can also help save up power on your iPhone 7 Plus.

To manage Background App Refresh on your iPhone 7 Plus, go to Settings-> General-> Background App Refresh. On that menu you can select which app to limit or turn off background app refresh instead.

Turning On Reduce Motion can also disable unnecessary visual effects on your iPhone. While these effects can augment beauty on your iPhone, using them more often can take up much power on your iPhone. As a result, your battery drains so fast. To increase or save battery life, you have to reduce the strain on your iPhone Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) — a component that gives your iPhone the power to render beautiful visual effects.

Turning on Reduce Motion can remedy this issue. To do so, head over to Settings-> General-> Accessibility-> Reduce Motion-> then toggle the switch to enable the feature.

Activate Low Power Mode. With Low Power Mode, you can reduce the amount of power that your iPhone uses when the battery is getting low. When enabled, your iPhone can last longer before you need to charge it. However, some of your iPhone features are also affected as some could take longer to update or not work as intended when Low Power Mode is on.

To manage this feature, go to Settings-> Battery-> then toggle the switch to enable Low Power Mode.

Alternatively, you can add it to the Control Center. To do so, go to Settings-> Control Center-> Customize Controls-> then select Low Power Mode. Doing so will add the Low Power Mode icon and access it quickly on the Control Center

Third Method: Close out your apps

Apps that you’ve opened can stay in running in the background even when you’re not using them anymore or while using other apps. These apps will go into a suspended mode and stay loaded in the memory so that the next time you open them, you can just swipe them on. While this can benefit you in some ways especially when it comes to apps loading speed, any of these suspended apps can crash in the background and that’s when your iPhone’s battery performance begin to degrade without you even knowing it. Aside from battery drain, a crashing app can also cause your iPhone to become unusually hot.

You will know which apps have been crashing more often on your iPhone by going to Settings-> Privacy-> Diagnostics & Usage-> Diagnostic & Data.

If you see a lot of entries of the same app or any apps listed under the Latest Crash section, that indicates a problem with that app.

To close out your apps, double-click the Home key to open the Apps Switcher or Multitasking view. The App Switcher lets you see all the apps that are stored in your iPhone’s memory. Swipe left or right of the screen to view all apps running in the background. To close an app, swipe your finger up on the app and push it off the top of the screen.

Fourth Method: Manage apps notifications.

It is important to be careful in choosing which apps you allow to send push notifications or not. Usually, when you open an app for the first time, it will ask you this question: “App Would Like To Send You Push Notifications — OK or Don’t Allow.” When you allow an app to send you push notifications, your granting that app permission to remain running in the background so that it can notify you about any thing that comes out including a text message, or other relevant updates and alerts. While these notifications are good in the sense that they keep you informed, they too can drain your iPhone’s battery life faster.

To manage apps notification, go to Settings-> Notifications-> then select the apps you want to grant permission to send you push notifications. Otherwise, you can turn that option OFF for certain apps. To turn off notifications, tap the name of the app and toggle the switch next to Allow Notifications.

Fifth Method: Restore your iPhone from iCloud.

If you’ve reached this far and still don’t see any improvement on your iPhone’s battery life, then you may now consider restoring your iPhone. As much as possible, do not restore from an iTunes backup. In order to proceed, you will need to use a computer that runs on a later or latest operating system (Windows or Mac) with the latest version of iTunes app installed. Once you’re all set, follow these steps:

Connect your iPhone to the computer using the supplied USB cable.

Open iTunes on the computer.

Wait until your iPhone is recognized by iTunes. Or tap the option to Trust This Computer on your device.

If prompted, select the option to Restore.

Click the iCloud backup you want to restore iOS from.

Continue by using the menus on your phone to connect to Wi-Fi and restore from your iCloud backup. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the process.

You can disconnect your iPhone from the computer as soon as you see the Hello screen or Set Up Your iPhone message in iTunes.

Sixth Method: Factory Reset your iPhone 7 Plus

This would be the last resort if the problem persists after trying everything. It is possible that what you’re dealing with a more serious or deeply-rooted software issue that can only be rectified by restoring your device to factory defaults and setting it up as new again.

Be sure to note though that all your saved contents will be erased from your iPhone. Thus, don’t forget to backup your device before you start. You can use your iPhone 7 Plus Settings menu to reset your iPhone 7 Plus.

To do so, head to Settings-> General-> Reset-> Erase All Content and Settings. If prompted, enter your Apple ID and password to continue. Tap Delete All to confirm action.

Alternatively, you can also do a factory reset on your iPhone 7 Plus using iTunes. Again you will need a computer that runs the latest version of iTunes app to get started. Also be sure to turn off Find My iPhone by going to Settings-> [your name]-> iCloud-> then turn off Find My iPhone.

When everything is set, connect your iPhone to the computer using the USB cable that came with your device.

Open iTunes on the computer and wait until your iPhone is recognized.

If prompted, enter the passcode for your device or tap the option to Trust This Computer and follow the onscreen prompts.

Select your iPhone 7 Plus from the list of available devices in iTunes.

Navigate to the Summary panel.

Click the button to Restore [Device].

Click Restore again to confirm action.

Follow the rest of the onscreen instructions to complete the restore process and wait for iTunes to erase your device and install the latest iOS. After your iPhone is restored to factory default settings it reboots and then you can set up your iPhone as new.

Now, observe carefully if your iPhone 7 Plus battery life has already improved or working as intended. If not, escalate the problem to your carrier or Apple Support for further assistance and recommendations. Escalating post-update problems including those that are related to the battery performance is highly recommended to let Apple know of the cons brought by the latest iOS update release. Once the problem appears to be a common concern, they will be able to develop and roll out a new update that contains the fix.

If calling is not your choice, then you can just take your iPhone to a technician for hardware assessment. It is also possible that the problem is triggered by a damaged component, including the battery itself or other relevant components on the iPhone 7 Plus.

Engage with us

If you have other issues with your Apple iPhone 7 Plus, we are always willing to help. Contact us through our iPhone issues questionnaire and provide us with all necessary information about your problem so we can find a solution to your issue.

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